The Flames Of Greece!

• Kyri Derzotis, Grade 11
• Short Story
• 2018

The sky fogged in an eye-blink, the screams and cries for help echoed through the air, I didn’t breathe in oxygen, I breathed in pain, pain and suffer. The sound of panic conquered all thoughts and with another blink of the eye, all plant life was gone, trees were burnt to the ground and flowers lost their vibrant colours, they turned into a colour that scared you, I then knew the smoke was circling us faster and faster. Nothing could be done, people were running to the water, but looking at the other ends of the beach the fire was somehow immune to the water, or maybe it was that fast that most people didn’t get to the water before they were burnt. I couldn’t tell, my eyes were affected by the smoke and I couldn’t see that clear anymore. Knowing the water couldn’t save us from a fire anymore, all we had was hope. The little girl with the big brown eyes and the defined curls had stopped running around sharing smiles, she was now coughing, she had tears in her eyes and terror in her face. She couldn’t breathe. Her pink dummy was covered in soil and fire dust, her mother was holding her hand tightly, she was holding back her tears and while keeping a strong smile she sang a lullaby. I will never forget that lullaby. Her voice cracked every now and then, some tears even managed to escape, but she wiped them fast. She sang with bravery, she sang to her daughter for the last time. I knew she was afraid and that’s why I won’t forget the lullaby, because it was sang by a mother who was so strong she put her fear aside and gently put her daughter to sleep so she wouldn’t feel the harm of the fire when it reached us. Some tried to run away from the woods, but it was only a matter of time before the flames caught up to them. Some tried to drive away from their homes, but the fire was too fast, they died in their cars with their kids in the back seats. Try to understand that, try to feel the emotions those parents dealt with, witnessing their children’s deaths, seeing their babies run out of oxygen, lose their life under their feet. I believe some parents survived it, the flames, I believe some found a way to beat the fires, but how did they all die, you’ll ask me, I believe some died of choice, they died to go and be with their children. A parent loses their life when they lose their child, in this case, it was both mentally and physically. This is not my story. I was a part of it, yes, but it's not my story. I’m not telling this story to talk to you about me, it's not about me, it’s about the curly haired girls with the pink dummies and the parents that don’t have a voice anymore.